Endlessly
by XAngelicWallflowerX
Summary: Mina and Naruto have been best friend's for 12 years. Life was and has been great up until that day...the day Mina was abducted right out from under Naruto's nose. A year later Mina escapes, but will everything go back to how it was? *Rated M for language, adult themes and future lemons.* [PREVIOUS READERS: I changed the main character's name]
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hello everyone. Welcome to my new story :]. If you are a subscriber who is waiting for me to update Small Town Girl, I would like to apologize in advance because I've completely forgotten where I wanted to go with it and I've just been really busy and unmotivated. Maybe I'll finish it later on down the road, but my focus will be mainly on this story now. Sorry. I hope you enjoy this story though!**_

_**Anyways...I do welcome constructive criticism, but please be respectful. I would never send someone a review or message that was rude or degrading so I would appreciate if you all would do the same for me. Oh and the pictures I used for my story cover are not mine, I found them on google and put them together like that in paint. Please speak up if one of those pictures is yours and you aren't comfortable with me using it. I will figure something else out. And please don't tell me it's yours if it isn't. Thanks.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the pictures used in my cover, just the plot and my OC.**_

_**Now on to the first chapter of "Endlessly"! Please rate and review! Thanks again!**_

_**ENJOY!**_

_**~XAngelicWallflowerX**_

* * *

Curled in a ball in the corner of a dark room sat a young woman of twenty-two. She had long brown hair and beautiful brown eyes that had a tinge of red in them in the sunlight. Trembling uncontrollably in the corner, she feared that she would never be free. And that she would never see her beloved friends again. It has already been a year since she was abducted right out from under her best friend's nose. Her beautiful face contorted with sadness.

_Naruto…I miss you so much._

Since her abduction, she has been beaten, touched in the wrong places, and humiliated countless times. No more does she cower when her captor comes to see her. No, she pushes away any feeling but anger and hatred when he arrives. On the outside she seems fierce and strong, but on the inside, she's just like a five year old trembling in fear of the monster in her closet. She'll be damned if she lets her captor see that though. He would just use it against her.

Sudden light filled the small room and Mina had to raise her hand to shield her eyes from the onslaught. As quickly as the light came, it faded. Having not heard footsteps come in, she lowered her hand. Her eyes settled immediately onto the pair of black tennis shoes before her. She could recognize those tennis shoes anywhere. Her dear captor has come to play.

* * *

Naruto paced impatiently in the living room of his two bedroom apartment in Mount Hope. He just wasn't able to keep himself still. He was just too anxious for that. He hated knowing that Mina was somewhere out there with that guy—that **_son-of-a-bitch_**— probably getting farther and farther away from him as time ticked on. And he was stuck here, waiting for his friends to arrive as he paced back and forth.

He stopped pacing briefly to glare darkly at the floor.

_If Mina has been hurt in anyway, I swear on my life that you won't see the light of the next day. And that's a promise, you fucking bastard._

Naruto seemed to get madder and madder the more he thought of it, so he shook his head and resumed his pacing. God! What's taking them so damn long?!

_I want to get there already and bring Mina home._

Recently they've gotten a lead to where she might be. His eyes hardened in determination at the same moment his face fell, consumed with guilt.

_Mina. I'm so sorry this happened to you. This whole thing is my fault. I will find you, Mina. I promise!_

According to their source, she was in Caldwell. Caldwell was approximately five miles from his house, and knowing this has Naruto even antsier to be out there looking for her then he normally was. It almost felt as if his skin was alive and crawling.

Five minutes later, headlights flashed across the window and Naruto all but ran out the door. In his driveway was a black two-thousand and seven Chevy Suburban filled with his friends.

_Finally, sheesh._

Kiba was in the driver's seat sporting a confident grin while Shikamaru was in the passenger seat staring impatiently at him. He grinned back and waved to them.

"Are you just going to stand there like an idiot, or are we going to get moving?" someone asked, sounding annoyed.

Naruto looked to the voice. Of course it was Sasuke. Sasuke never was one to wait around very long.

_Stupid Teme._

Nodding, he jogged over and hopped through the open door, courtesy of Sakura, and buckled up. Sasuke was seated behind him with Itachi and Naruto sent him a half-hearted glare over his shoulder. Hinata changed seats with Sakura quick, so that she could sit next to him. He sent a warm smile in her direction, turning towards Kiba and Shikamaru.

"Let's go get her," He said grinning, his eyes sparkling with his excitement as he wrapped his arm around Hinata's neck. It's time to finally end this.

_Mina..._

* * *

Meanwhile, Mina was in the passenger seat of an old beat up Monte Carlo. A blindfold had been placed over her eyes so she couldn't tell where the hell she was or where they were going. About eight minutes later the car came to a stop and she felt hot breath on her neck, causing her to tense and recoil into herself. She wanted to flinch away, already knowing who the breath belonged to, but she held herself in place.

"Now you behave," Kye, her captor, practically purred in her ear. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes. I just have to grab a bag from the house." He pressed a kiss to her cheek and she had to stop herself from barfing and rubbing her cheek on her sweater to get it off. She could hear the car's crappy leather squeak under his weight as he shifted to open his door. He closed the door and she could hear the sound of his shoes hitting concrete as he walked away. She held her breath in anticipation.

Quietly, with patience she didn't know she had, Mina waited for some kind of sign that he was inside the house. A distant slam of a door put her into action.

She pulled her hands free of the bounds and yanked her blindfold off, glancing around. They were parked in front of a house that sat basically in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't see a house on either side for miles. The darkness probably wasn't helping much either, but she pulled her eyes away from the darkened landscape and sent her hand out for the lock on the door.

"Damn it!" She cursed loudly to herself, slamming her fist down onto the door.

The top of the lock had been either filed down or cut off so that she couldn't even pull it up with her finger nails. That only left her with one choice. It looked like she was going to have to go out the window.

She groaned. "Here goes nothing."

* * *

**_A/N: All right, so that's chapter one! I hope you all enjoyed it. Sorry if it seemed too short. I will try to make the chapters longer as I continue this story. Please don't forget to rate and review. I really do want your opinion. It'll help me see what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right. Don't be shy :]_**

**_And thank you for taking the time to read it!_**

**_Side note: The title of this story was inspired by the song Endlessly by The Cab. They have two great songs that I just love. Endlessly and Angel With a Shotgun. Go check them out if you haven't heard of them! :]_**

**_Until next chapter!_**

**_Au revoir!_**

**_~XAngelicWallflowerX_**


	2. Chapter 2

_****A/N: Here's chapter two! Hahahaha! I'm just on a roll tonight! Please don't forget to review and rate! **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just my OC and the plot **_

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

Naruto and the crew arrived in the town around four in the morning. He could hardly keep still and it was annoying the hell out of Sasuke. All he could hear the whole ride was Naruto in the backseat fidgeting, shifting around and sighing. Kid was annoying as hell. How they became friends in the first place remains a mystery.

When Kiba finally pulled the Suburban to a stop, Sasuke had to hold back a sigh of relief. Now Naruto would finally stop fidgeting and shifting around like there were a bunch of red ants biting his ass.

Naruto hopped out first, like the impatient idiot he was, and stretched briefly before striding to the back and pulling out a nine millimeter pistol. After he stuffed it into the inside of his trench coat—the trench coat that everyone else also wore because he's an idiot and wanted them all to match—he filled his pockets with some ammunition. They were probably going a little overboard with this "search and rescue mission", but the way Sasuke saw it, he would rather be safe than be a sorry-dead-motherfucker.

* * *

Mina didn't much like the idea of going out the window. Not only was it noisy, and she was bound to get caught, but she failed to see any other way of escaping and she had already made up her mind that she wasn't going back to where ever she was being held. A year of abuse and torture was enough for her. This ended today, even if it killed her.

She considered herself fortunate to tell the truth. Not once has Kye tried to rape her. He has fondled her and touched her down there, but has never forced her to have sex with him. Most girls in her situation would've been raped probably on the first night…or at least by the first week. But not her. Thank goodness. She was sure that it probably crossed his mind. Because really, what guy doesn't think about sex most of the time? Definitely not most of the guys she's dated. Hell about eighty percent of her dates had wanted to have sex on the first date. And what did they get? A door in the face and a big fat delete from her cell phone. That shit wasn't happening. She wasn't just some booty call. She wanted passion, lust...desire. Love.

Shaking her head, she got back on task. No time for those kinds of thoughts. She glanced out her window to make sure Kye wasn't coming back. Upon seeing that the coast was still clear, she leaned to the side, bringing her right leg up to her chest, and sent her leg flying toward the window after taking a deep breath. She hit it with as much force as she could muster, feeling relief when the glass shock and cracked with the force.

The glass shattered loudly after another kick and the shards flew everywhere. Some landed outside while others landed on her leg. A few were actually embedded into her ankle and shin. Oh joy...

A dog started barking from inside the house, probably hearing the commotion she made, so Mina quickly undid the seat belt around her. She climbed out of the window as quick as she could and was just righting herself when the door flew open and Kye ran out on the porch. Their gazes collided and time seemed to stop completely. After a second, her gaze landed on the large black duffel bag clutched in Kye's left hand. Unfortunately she didn't have time to register the things she was seeing hanging out of it were because by now Kye was racing down the sidewalk towards her.

Turning on her heel, she took off in a random direction, hoping like hell that she was going the right way.

* * *

"Any sign of her?" Naruto asked as everyone meet up by the Suburban after searching the abandoned buildings north of the town. All their faces were grave. Except for Sasuke. He sported the same emotionless expression as always. He almost seemed bored, but Naruto knew that deep down Sasuke was worried about Mina. He wouldn't be here if he wasn't.

"Not yet." Sakura said, sighing. Hinata nodded from her spot over by Kiba as well. They'd found no trace of Mina either.

**Ugh! **

None of this was working. They weren't any closer to finding her then they were before!

On a burst of anger, he swung around and punched the tree behind him, crimson blood dripping from his knuckles. No one moved or made a sound as he turned around, hit his back and head against the tree, and slid down to the ground. His eyes stared to water from frustration, but everyone just stared at him in shock. No one moved an inch. They were probably waiting to see what he was going to do next. I'm such an idiot. Why did I let her go by herself?

His shoulders started trembling as the day of Mina's abduction replayed in his head for the infinite time since it happened.

_**(Flashback)**_

_**"Naruto!" Mina exclaimed happily as she browsed through clothes at this small store called Chic. It was right in town not very far from their apartment. He actually didn't mind shopping with Mina. She didn't bombard him with thousands of bags to hold or carry. Actually, she's never made him hold or carry a bag. He has always just done it for her, like the gentlemen he was. Or the one he tries to be anyways.**_

_**"Look at this! It's so pretty!" She held a pink and neon yellow jacket in her hands. She chuckled to herself before sending him a devilish smirk.**_

_**"It's soooo your color, Naruto. You should try it on." Naruto rolled his eyes, smirking back at her. She loved to mess with him. That's one of the reasons they got a long so well. They had similar personalities. Mina knew that he was with Hinata, but they made sure to never let their friendly teasing cross the line. A little fun was no problem, but when things went too far it tended to get really awkward between them and Naruto hated that.**_

_**"The day I wear that is the day you and Sasuke start dating." She chucked the article at him, nailing him right in the face.**_

_**"Shut up! He doesn't like me like that, anyways. We're just friends." She had a pretty pink blush on her cheeks as she scowled. He noticed that she didn't deny it. A smirk appeared on his face**_

_**He just couldn't pass up the opportunity to mess with her some more as they walked towards the shoes on the back wall.**_

_**"You too, huh?"**_

_**"Me too what?" She asked, confused.**_

_**"I thought you had better taste than that," He feigned disappointment. "You gonna become one of his fan girls too?"**_

_**She chucked a shoe at his face this time. He ducked just before impact and it sailed over his head, rebounding off the wall behind him.**_

_**"Hey!" He exclaimed, chuckling. Damn, she had good aim. If he hadn't of ducked he'd have a shoe imprint on his cheek.**_

_**"I never said I liked Sasuke!" She was all flustered now. Score one for Naruto. "I mean, I like him, just not more than a friend."**_

_**"You never said you didn't like him either," He mumbled. She didn't respond and they walked out of the store and onto the dark sidewalk. They took maybe ten steps toward the apartment building when she cursed loudly.**_

_**"I think I left my purse in the fitting room when I tried on those jeans."**_

_**He stopped walking and turned as if to go back to Chic. "Let's go back and get it then.**_

_**"No," She shook her head and stopped him when he went to start walking. "You wait here. It'll only take me a second to run back in and grab it. I'll be right back."**_

_**Before he could stop her or insist on accompanying her, she was already jogging for the door and disappearing inside. He sighed as he shook his head at her and leaned up against the nearest building to wait.**_

_**About five minutes later a young guy with dark eyes and a hoody strode passed him just as Mina came out of the store with her bag. The guy was sending Naruto all kinds of bad vibes, but he got distracted when Mina smiled, holding up her bag as a signal that she found it. Just as she went to take a step in his direction the guy with the hoody grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth with his gloved hand. Naruto could hear her muffled screams as he pushed off of the building behind him. When hoody-dude started to muscle Mina in the other direction, she reached her hand out to Naruto, her big brown eyes pleading for his aid.**_

_**"Hey!" He exclaimed, but the guy didn't even flinch. If anything, he started dragging her faster. He could see tears rolling down her cheeks as he stumbled over an empty trash can, her hand still outstretched for him.**_

_**Naruto pushed his legs to go faster as the two neared a corner, but suddenly a big burly dude in another hoody stepped out from the dark alley to his right and decked him right in the face. He and the burly guy exchanged a few punches before the guy punched him in the stomach and ran off.**_

_**By the time Naruto stood up, Mina was gone. The only thing left of her was her bag that she dropped at the corner as the men took her away.**_

_**(End Flashback)**_

Naruto knew that he should've gone with her. He knew it, but yet he didn't.

_I'm such a__** fucking**__ idiot!_

An emotion filled yell tore from his throat as he punched the ground repeatedly. God, how could have been so fucking STUPID?!

Hands pulling at his face had him looking up to see that Hinata was pulling him to her, her lavender orbs full of sadness...it was almost his undoing.

She pulled him close, cradling his head in her arms as he leaned against her chest and she rubbed calming circles on his back. She hushed him comfortingly and scratched his scalp with her nails just like he liked. He didn't know how long he sat there in Hinata's embrace before someone spoke up.

"We'll find her, Naruto," Kiba vowed. "I promise."

"Don't make a promise you can't even keep!" Naruto growled, his voice harsh, but laced with emotion. Kiba recoiled. He was only trying to help. Naruto knew that. The poor guy was only trying to cheer him up. Not to mention Kiba considered Mina a sister to him, but Naruto was too angry at himself to think rationally.

After a few tense minutes passed, Naruto inhaled deeply. And after holding his breath for a few seconds more he let it out slowly. Now that he was thinking clearly, he looked to Kiba.

"I'm sorry Kiba," He apologized as a tear rolled down his cheek. He didn't even bother wiping it away. "It's just...I feel so useless and I have this nagging fear that we're running out of time," He paused. When he spoke again his voice trembled slightly, "...that she's running out of time."

Silence followed. Seems like no one knew what to say. Is it because they feared the same? That question had Naruto gripping on to Hinata a little tighter. He didn't even want to consider it.

A hand on his cheek had Naruto looking up to meet Hinata's beautiful lavender eyes.

"You aren't useless Naruto," She said. She overcame her stutter a while ago, with Mina's help. He remembered how happy they both were when he walked through the door that day and Hinata said a full sentence without a single stutter. "You're doing all you can, as are we. We will find her." The "dead or alive" part was unspoken, but it hung in the silence between them.

He sat there, looking into Hinata's lovely eyes for a few minutes more until he smiled, nodding. She was right. He laced his fingers with hers and stood up, pulling her along. "Then what are we waiting for?"

She gave him one of her sweet smiles as she nodded. A chorus of agreements followed and Naruto couldn't even begin to suppress the smile on his face. It was time to bring Mina home. He would never stop or give up on her. Not as long as he was still breathing.

* * *

Running. That's all Mina has done for the past three hours…or at least that's how long it felt. Her lungs were burning and her legs killed, but she refused to slow or stop. No way in hell was she going back to captivity with that sick bastard! Not after what he emerged from that house with. She shuddered as she thought about it.

At first the contents in the bag didn't register in her head-shock maybe?-, but she found that as she ran she could recognize the things in it.

_Ugh, sick!_

In that black bag was an array of sex toys. She recalled seeing rope, handcuffs, and the tip of a dildo. Shutter. No way in hell was she going to let some sick asshole do something like that to her. Never in a million years would she consent to that. She was just glad that she escaped when she did. There were probably a hell of a lot more things in that bag and knowing Kye, he'd use every last thing just to try to break her. Or maybe it was for his own sick, twisted pleasure. She didn't even want to know.

Shaking her head abruptly to clear the remaining thoughts, she ascended a steep hill. What was beyond the hill made her heart beat quicken and her breathing to stop briefly. Civilization! Finally!

With a burst of speed, she took off down the hill toward the town below. Now all she had to do was stay hidden until she found someone who was awake and would allow her to borrow their cell phone.

Kiba checked another abandoned warehouse, only to come up with the same result. Nothing. Not-a-fucking-thing. Each passing moment of failure made him even more frustrated and a little discouraged.

At this rate we'll never find her, he thought depressingly, running his hand through his brown locks.

He still couldn't believe that they had been fortunate enough to pinpoint her location in the first place. That Kakashi must have tremendous connections. Even though they still have yet to find her, Kiba had a gut feeling that they were on the right track. She was here. Somewhere.

* * *

_****A/N: So that was chapter two. I'm considering switching to first person, but I haven't decided yet. What do you all think? Oh yeah! I'm in the process of uploading the next chapter, so it should be up within the hour! :] Happy reading everyone!**_

_**Please don't forget to rate and review! As I've said before, I really want to know what you guys think about the story so far! (I know, I know we're only two chapters in, but I want to make sure that it all fits together well. I guess you could say that I'm a little paranoid. Haha.)**_

_**As always, thanks for taking the time to read my story!**_

_**Until next chapter (which will be in a few ;P)!**_

_**Au revoir!**_

_**~XAngelicWallflowerX**_


	3. Chapter 3

_****A/N: So here is the next chapter! Hopefully the chapters aren't too short XP. Please feel free to let me know if they are though. I am trying to make them longer, I promise!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, just my OC and the plot. **_

_**Please rate and review!**_

_**And enjoy!**_

* * *

She had to stop and rest. She couldn't go on any longer. Man, I need to work out more or something. Sheesh. She plopped down at the base of a tree in an alley and tried to catch her breath. Her body ached all over. Especially her leg. Speaking of her leg…

She pulled herself up straighter and gazed down to her right leg. It had stopped bleeding a while ago, but some of the shards from the window still remained. It amazed her that it hadn't bother her sooner. It must've been the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Sighing, she reached down and grabbed a hold of a shard, wincing and flinching from the pain. God damn!

She held her breath and quickly, but carefully, pulled out each shard until her leg was once again a bloodied mess. All the bloodied shards were laying on the ground next to her in a pile. Staring at them for a moment, she wondered again how she ran for as long as she did. After burying them in the dirt, she sat there for a minute. Thoughts of home, Naruto, her nice comfortable bed and a hot shower ran through her head.

Sighing once again and pushing those thoughts aside, she stood up and headed off, anxious to finally be able to go home after so long. She didn't have anything with her to wrap around her leg, but she was hoping that she would find some help here soon. So far the very little people she talked to were either complete dick-wads or they didn't have a cellphone. She refused to get discouraged, though. She missed her friends and she would be damned if she wasn't going to find some way to get back home. She would walk there if she had to.

She walked along the sidewalk just thinking about how a nice hot shower sounded at the moment, when she suddenly heard a car and saw her shadow before her. Turning her head, her eyes widened as she saw the Monte Carlo coming toward her. She stood there for a couple of seconds, shocked at how he could've found her so easily. Adrenaline once again pumped through her veins as she took off running again as fast as her legs could take her. What has her pumping her legs as hard as she can wasn't that she was just standing there like a deer caught in the headlights. No, it was the gun Kye had leveled at her. When he got a gun, she wasn't sure, but she sure as hell wasn't about to stop and ask him.

Ahead of her was another alley, so she followed the wooden fence up to the opening. Just as she was rounding the corner, a gunshot sliced through the air and a sudden sharp pain in her upper thigh made her cry out in pain and fall to the ground. She reached her hand back and lightly touched the area, and when she pulled her hand back to her face it glistened with her blood. She whimpered at the pain, but pushed herself to her feet when she heard the car approaching. No way was she going back after getting this far.

She limped away as quick as she could, pain shooting through her with every step. She just pushed on. She'd rather die from blood loss than go back with him.

It was really quiet. It made sense though. It was almost five o clock in the morning after all. There were only a very few people out this early, him not included. Some were clad in slacks and others were either still in their pajamas or dressed casually. He sighed, feeling the morning air relax his tense muscles. Everything was peaceful...until a sudden gun shot rang through the air. Without a second thought, he launched himself towards the sound, hoping like hell that it was just an old car backfiring and not someone actually being shot.

After the many failed attempts to use a cellphone, Mina gave up. How could every person she asked not have a cell phone? That was just fishy.

_What if everyone here knows Kye and supports his habits? Maybe this is his home town..._

That voice in her head has whispered nonsense like that for twenty minutes now. She was starting to believe it though. It couldn't just be some coincidence that everyone she asked didn't have a cell phone. Who in their right mind didn't have a cell phone now-a-days? Seriously.

After the man she just asked told her she couldn't use his cell phone, she decided to just keep limping passed the remaining people out and about. She made sure to keep her head tilted so that her hair cast her face in shadow, just in case that voice in her head turned out to be right. Every time she heard a car coming she hid behind something, fearing that it was Kye. It kept being someone else though. They were most likely going into work or something. She wasn't dumb though. She knew that Kye was still looking for her. So until she got somewhere else—anywhere other than where she was now—she was going to continue hiding.

A car could be heard coming up the street and Mina quickly scurried into the nearest alley and crouched down behind a garbage can. Turns out her paranoia paid off. It was Kye in the Monte Carlo. The drivers window was down and he was hanging out of it, scanning the alleys and streets for her. She kept quiet from her spot, peeking around the trash can to watch him. He crept along almost leisurely, almost as if he was out for an early morning ride. He wasn't even going 15 mph, for Pete's sake. Her body tensed as the car stopped in front of the alley and she stopped breathing, fearing he would hear her shaky breaths sawing in and out of her lungs.

After a couple of minutes he rolled on. When she could barely hear the car anymore she cautiously limped back out the sidewalk. He was down to the end of the street at the stoplight by now and was just disappearing around the corner. There was a sign by the stoplight that read '21st St'. Kye had turned left on twenty-first street, so she decided she would go right. She chuckled a little sadistically to herself.

_Good luck finding me that way, you prick_

There were a few cars waiting at the red light as she walked closer, but it seemed looked like most of the people who were out earlier disappeared. They all must've gotten to where they were going. Sighing, she followed the sidewalk around the corner...

Only to run into something hard and warm.

* * *

_****A/N: So there it is! I will try to get the next chapter uploaded before I have to go to work :] **_

_**I would like to thank DrPepperMonsterKitty and an anonymous reader for their reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far.**_

_**Until next chapter!**_

_**Au revoir!**_

_**~XAngelicWallflowerX**_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here is chapter four! Sorry for not having it up sooner! I tend to get distracted with YouTube,Facebook and Spotify XP. Not sure how long it'll be before I have the next chapter up. I haven't even written it yet, so we'll see. I have an idea where I want this story to go, the hard part is just getting there interestingly. Haha, anyways enjoy chapter four! Shoot me a review and rate it please!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, just Mina and the plot.**

**Happy reading everyone! :]**

* * *

She gasped and recoiled, taking several steps back. Staring wide-eyed with fear, she watched the figure that was engulfed in the shadows cast by the rising sun as whoever they were started walking toward her. She couldn't stop herself from trembling as she took steps back with every forward step they made. In her haste to keep distance between herself and the unknown person, she tripped over something—most likely her own feet since she's a klutz—and fell backwards on her butt. Her injured leg screamed at her, making her wince and cover the wound in a futile attempt to ease the pain. She couldn't find the strength the get back up and it wouldn't have done any good anyways. The figure was already upon her.

"Are you all right?" Asked a deep male voice. A voice that sounded familiar. But, why did that voice sound so familiar?

She remained silent, still trembling. From blood loss, or fear, she couldn't say for sure. All she could do was watch this mystery man as he slowly crouched down level with her face. In doing so, he pulled his face out of the shadows and her heart skipped a beat as she instantly recognized him.

From his jet black hair that framed his porcelain face, to the onyx eyes he shared with his brother, she had never been happier to see Itachi Uchiha in all her life than she was at that moment.

"Itachi?!" She couldn't believe her eyes. Was she dreaming?! Stretching out her hand, she placed it on his cheek.

Warmth and smoothness. This wasn't an illusion. He was really there!

He covered her hand with his and she gasped, shocked.

"Oh my god, "She breathed. "This isn't a dream! You're really here!" She threw her arms around his neck, forgetting about her leg, and cried pure tears of joy.

He was really there!

He embraced her tightly saying, "Mina! Thank god you're all right." He hugged her like she would disappear any moment and she found herself clutching to him tighter in return. It was so nice to see him again.

After a few minutes, she pulled away to look him in the eyes. Her voice and hands trembled slightly when she spoke. "We have to get out of here, Itachi. Please get me out of here! I want to go home!"

She probably sounded like a five year old, but she didn't care. Even though she went the opposite direction as Kye, he was bound to come back around. Yeah, she'd been fortunate so far, but she didn't want to risk having her luck run out.

Luckily for her, he noticed her desperation and became concerned. He frowned and his eyebrows pulled together.

"What's wrong, Mina?"

"Kye is looking for me. Please, let's just go. I want to go home." She repeated. She really was desperate.

"Kye? Who's that?"

"He's the guy who kidnapped me a year ago. Can we please go now?!" She replied urgently. She didn't want to talk about this right now. She just wanted to get out of there.

He nodded, smoothing down her long brown hair affectionately. Her hair had to of grown at least two feet since she last seen everyone. Kye never really took her out anywhere, so it hasn't been cut in a year. Hopefully it didn't look too unkempt.

"Don't worry," He said, helping her to her feet. "I'll protect you and he won't ever get you again." He has always been like a big brother to her and she found great comfort in his words. She believed that he could protect her.

"The others are probably waiting for me by the car by now," He said, pulling her out of her thoughts. Her heart skipped a beat.

_Others? Did I hear him correctly?_

"Let's go home, Mina." He offered her his hand, smiling.

She nodded vigorously, taking his hand. God, was she ever ready to get the hell out of here. As she went to take her first step, her leg throbbed, and she stumbled in pain. She winced, clutching it.

Thankfully, Itachi was there to keep her from tumbling to the ground. He looked at her, concern clearly etched onto his face.

"Mina? Are you hurt?"

All she could do was nod at him. Itachi's face contorted with worry as he crouched down to look at her leg. He pushed away her blood stained hand and she noticed that he clenched his fist tightly by his side.

"It looks like a gunshot," He observed, moving to look at the front of her leg. "No exit wound either."

Yeah, that was just her luck.

He looked up at her and she wasn't surprised to see anger in his eyes. They almost looked red from where she stood.

"I'll have to carry you," He stated. His voice was soft, not even a hint of the anger that she could so clearly see in his dark eyes.

She nodded, feeling sudden fatigue go through out her body. He grimaced a little. "But, the easiest way would be piggy back style. It might put strain on your leg and I don't want to hurt you, Mina. I'll go get the car an-"

"No!" She interrupted him, grabbing his hand tightly. "Please don't leave me alone Itachi! Just carry me. I can handle the pain!" He looked at her, seeming to search her face for something. She didn't know if he found what he was looking for, but he sighed and palmed his forehead.

After a moment more he said, "All right. Hop on."

She smiled and did her best to get on his back without hurting herself. Upon doing so successfully, she found that the position didn't put strain on her wounded leg at all. It was actually really nice to take a load of and not have to walk. She still had no idea how long she'd been running earlier that morning.

They walked on in silence for a little while before she spoke. "Itachi?"

"Hmm?"

She laid her head down on his shoulder, a slight smile on her lips. "Thank you."

He turned his head to look at her as he kept walking. "Don't thank me,_ Koibito_. Naruto was the one who pushed us all to this point. He wouldn't give up, even when the police did. You know how he is when he sets his mind to something."

She chuckled. That was her Naruto. Stubborn as an ass. "Yeah, that's my Naruto. Well, thank you for not losing hope then...I know there were times where I almost did."

Her face fell as she told him that. She felt ashamed of herself, but one of the few reasons she didn't lose hope was because deep down in her heart she knew that Naruto was looking for her. He was her best friend. And she was delighted that her feeling was right.

As they rounded another corner, Itachi let her know that the car was about a mile away.

"Everyone is probably wondering what happened to me. I was supposed to rendezvous ten minutes ago," He shifted her higher on his back, sending a smirk her way. "They'll sure be happy to see you though."

She smiled at him. "I know, I can't wait. I've missed them all so much."

"All of them?" He glanced back at her, surprised. She nodded. It was no lie that there were a few certain people who she couldn't stand.

"Sounds odd, but yes. I've missed all of them. That includes Sai, Lee and your grumpy brother." He chuckled, shaking his head at her statement. It wasn't that she couldn't stand Sasuke, the exact opposite really, he just irritated her sometimes. He was actually one of her closest friends. The two started getting closer six months before her abduction. And in that time, her and Itachi also became close. Ever since her and Sasuke's friendship grew, her relationship with Itachi seemed to also. She considered Itachi to be her older brother, even though he isn't by blood.

"Speaking of Sasuke," She began. "Do you two still live together?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "No. Things started to get bad between us a couple months after you were taken." He seemed sad at the fact.

"It didn't help that he probably felt a little awkward and like a third wheel with me having Sakura over all the time."

Now that was news.

Mina gave him a quizzical look. Even though he couldn't see it, he must've felt it because he continued on as if she had asked him out loud.

"She and I kind of hit it off after you disappeared. I could feel the tension between them the first time I invited her over. To be honest, I didn't expect her to show up," He smiled to himself. "I was really glad she did though. We've been together now for a year."

Mina smiled. "Congratulations. I'm glad you found happiness. You both deserve it."

He thanked her and then suddenly said, "I can see the car from here."

Her eyes darted up and sure enough there sat Kiba's black Suburban. Unshed tears started to blur her vision, but she hastily wiped them away. There was no time to cry. She was too excited to see everyone. Crying could wait until later.

"Itachi, where have you been?!" That was Kiba's voice. Her heartbeat accelerated, tears threatening to cascade down her cheeks.

_Kiba!_

"Yeah! We've been waiting for you for fifteen minutes!" Her breathing stopped.

_Naruto!_

"What took you so long, man? Waiting is so troublesome. Mina could be anywhere by now." Her eyes softened.

_Shikamaru...How many people did you recruit Naruto?_

"Did everyone else hear that gunshot earlier?"

_Hinata!_

"Itachi," Mina whispered. "Put me down."

He stopped walking and glanced at her over his shoulder. "What about your leg? What if you collapse?"

"Is he talking to himself?" Someone asked over by the car.

"Itachi, what's the hold up? Let's go." Her eyes widened. Sasuke was here too? And he sounded as impatient as ever. She found herself smirking.

_Sasuke..._

"I'll be fine." She held on to Itachi's shoulders as he lowered her to the ground.

"I'll be right by your side if you need me." He insisted, ever the older brother she deemed him to be. She smiled at him and took a deep breath.

"Am I going crazy, or do you all see someone standing next to him too?"

There was one person at that moment that Mina absolutely needed to see. Her being gone had to have eaten him up inside. He probably blamed himself for what happened to her. Especially since she was with him when Kye grabbed her.

"Naruto?" She called out, unable to clearly see him through the still darkened streets. The sun was rising, slowly, but there still wasn't enough light to see clearly.

"M-Mina?!"He exclaimed after a few tense minutes, surprised. His voice cracked a little bit at the end and if it hadn't of been a serious moment, she might have laughed.

After a few tense moments, he ran to her. She smiled, running to meet him halfway. When they collided, the tears she had willed away now fell down her cheeks freely. "Oh my god, it's really you!"

She hugged him as tight as she could; her voice trembling with emotion when she spoke. "I've missed you so much, Naruto."

He held her like Itachi did. As if she would disappear at any moment. Itachi walked up to the pair as Naruto called out to everyone else, raw emotion making his voice hoarse. "Guys, it's really her! We found her!"

"You're safe now," Itachi said to her, affectionately caressing her hair for the second time that morning. She had yet to let go of Naruto, but she beamed up at Itachi through her happy tears.

It felt good to be safe finally.

Everyone rushed up to them and a chorus of 'Thank god' and 'I'm so happy you're all right' met her ears. She glanced to their surrounding faces and smiled once more, reluctantly pulling away from Naruto.

The first person she pulled into a hug was Kiba, followed by Shikamaru. Both men were so happy to see her and she was just as happy to see them. Next was Sakura. The pinkette had tears streaming down her cheeks and a great big smile as she embraced Mina. She had always considered Sakura a sister, just as she did Hinata. Mina helped Sakura get back on her feet when her and Sasuke broke up. Let's just say, it wasn't a pretty sight. The poor girl was a wreck.

_**Hell, look at the man. Of course Sakura was devastated over Sasuke. He's a stud muffin!**_

_Shut up!_

She pushed the voice back in to its' corner in her mind. Stupid thing. To be honest, she was a little surprised to find out that Sakura was with Itachi now. She really meant what she told Itachi earlier though. The both of them deserved happiness. It made her heart warm to know that they found it in each other.

She moved on to Neji with a small smile. He may not have said much to her before, but she was still happy to see him. She appreciated that he came along, seeing as how they sometimes didn't see eye to eye. All that mattered was that he came, despite their differences.

Sai was next in line and he almost plowed her over with the force of his hug. Had it not been for Itachi, who has been shadowing her—for her protection no doubt—she might have fallen over. Even though he wasn't one of her favorite people, she was kind of happy to see Sai.

"Easy Sai," She chuckled out. Poor guy still isn't used to stuff like this. He had a...difficult childhood. After he apologized several times and she insisted that it was all right, she moved on.

"Hinata." She embraced the lavender eyed woman as she started crying again. Hinata cried with her, the girl's tears dripping on Mina's shoulder. She alternated between rubbing calming circles on Hinata's back and squeezing the girl tightly as they cried together.

Lastly was Sasuke. Her expression softened when her brown eyes landed on his form. He was standing back from everyone else, watching. She noticed that his hair was longer, the ends almost to his collarbone now, but it still stuck up in odd places like always. He wore the same black trench coat that everyone else seemed to have, with black jeans and a pair of red Chuck Taylors. Her heartbeat accelerated the longer she looked at him, which confused her.

_What's wrong with me? I've never reacted this way to him before, so what's the deal?_

She was so grateful though. He didn't have to come along with everyone else to save her and she would be in debt to every single one of them for a long time. Just the fact that he was in front of her meant that he valued their friendship at least a little. Sasuke was a hard card to decipher sometimes.

Wiping away her remaining tears, Mina's stomach started doing somersaults as she made her way to him with a smile. She was limping slightly and really hoped it wasn't noticeable because she knew that she needed medical attention to get the bullet out, but she didn't want to deal with it right now. She just wanted to go home and take a nice hot shower...after she was done hugging Sasuke of course.

She probably smelled like shit and that made her a little self-conscious. She ignored it though. Surely Naruto—or even Sai—would've said something if she smelled that bad. Even though Naruto was her best friend, he had a tendency to say things he shouldn't. She still loved him, regardless.

As she came to a stop in front of Sasuke, their eyes met and she had to stop herself from gasping in shock. There was relief and a tinge of joy in his onyx orbs. He hardly ever showed emotion and the fact that he was showing some at that moment made Mina smile wider. Without warning, she threw her arms around his neck tightly and buried her face into he crook of his neck. To add on to her shock, he wrapped his arms around her just as tight and buried his face in her hair. Embarrassingly, she found herself inhaling his scent.

_Mmmmm he smells really good..._

She mentally slapped herself, trying to just focus on the hug itself and not on the body and smell of the immensely attractive, five foot ten, walking hottie hugging her.

_Hottie? Since when do I refer to him as a hottie?_

"-hurt." He said.

She pulled back to look him in the eyes, not having heard him over the battle going on between her head and body. "What?"

"You're hurt."

_Well fuck. I was really hoping you wouldn't notice._

Who would've thought that Sasuke was the observant type?

"I'm fine, Sasuke." She insisted. His eyes hardened and she sighed to herself. So much for the tender moment.

"No you're not 'fine'. You're limping. What happened?" He emphasized the word 'fine'. It sounded as if he had been insulted.

Did she say something?

Ugh. Just great. Everyone was looking at them now. She really didn't feel like explaining everything at the moment, so she remained silent as she stared into his eyes.

"You're hurt? Did **he** do that to you?" Naruto asked, infuriated. "I'll kill that mother—"

"You've got to be exhausted Mina," Itachi swiftly interrupted. Good timing. "Why don't we just head home and discuss it another time? She needs to rest."

Naruto's anger dissipated almost instantaneously and everyone voiced their agreements, heading for the Suburban. Mina went to follow, but Sasuke stopped her, grabbing her wrist. Confused, she looked into his eyes to see cold hard determination.

"Let me help you." Was all he said. She knew there was no way he was going to let her walk by herself, she could see that much just by the way he was looking at her. Persistent bastard.

She sighed, not wanting to unintentionally insult him again. She wasn't up for the fight that would most likely follow if she refused either. Giving in and letting him have his way for now was the only option.

"All right."

He pulled her flush to his side and put her arm around his neck. "Put your weight on me…there you go."

It was a little awkward being so close to Sasuke after so long, especially with the thoughts that have been going through her head today. But, damn if he didn't just smell amazing!

Mina blushed fiercely.

_Stupid hormones. Knock it off! Ugh...I really hope he doesn't see me blushing. How embarrassing would THAT be...just calm down, jeez._

When they approached the vehicle, Itachi smiled at her from the seats that were farthest in the back, beckoning her with his hand. Sasuke lifted her inside effortlessly, causing the blush that stained her cheeks to deepen. He lifted her as if she was weightless and she couldn't figure out why she felt a little breathless afterwards.

When her hand clasped around Itachi's, he gently helped her sit down on his lap since there wasn't another seats. He was careful not to cause her any pain and it warmed Mina's heart. Everyone was talking amongst themselves as they started getting in to the vehicle. Naruto sat between Hinata and Sakura, who were seated directly in front of her, Itachi and Sasuke. Hinata was in front of her and Itachi while Sakura was in front of Sasuke. In front of Sakura and Hinata sat Neji and Sai. Then came Shikamaru, who was riding shot gun, and Kiba, who was obviously the driver.

Kiba put the keys in the ignition, revving the engine before taking off after everyone was buckled up. The ride was silent for the most part, aside from the friendly chatter between Naruto and Kiba.

About twenty minutes later Mina started to feel strange. She was starting to sweat profusely, but she felt cold. She kind of felt a little dizzy too. Her body started to quake, rattling her teeth slightly. Itachi pulled her a little closer and started rubbing her back comfortingly. Her chattering teeth didn't stop, however.

"You okay?" He whispered, concern lacing his voice. She swallowed hard and braced her hand on the back of the seat in front of her. Nausea could be added to the list. She felt like she could yak all over at any moment. She didn't trust herself to speak, in fear of doing just that, so she shook her head 'no' to answer Itachi's question.

He brought his hand up to her forehead, checking for a fever most likely, but she didn't have one. She felt cool as a cucumber, aside from the clamminess.

"Is she okay?" Sasuke asked Itachi, having heard and seen everything. How could she forget that he was sitting over there? God, what was wrong with her? Her breathing started to accelerate as Itachi talked with Sasuke. It was almost like she was hyperventilating. It made her nervous. When she looked up, her gaze locked with Sasuke's for a few moments and whatever expression she had caused him to sit up straighter and halfway turn towards her in his seat.

"Sakura," He put one of his hands on the pinkette's shoulder, causing the girl to jump and turn to look at him. "Something's wrong with Mina."

Sakura's eyes snapped to Mina to see that her skin looked gray, that she was shivering and it also looked like she was sweating.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Does she have a fever?"

Itachi shook his head. "No, she feels fine. A little clammy, but no fever. Her breathing just accelerated about two minutes ago. It's almost like she's hyperventilating."

"I feel really dizzy," Mina mumbled, bowing her head as she fought the waves of nausea.

Clammy. Gray colored skin. Accelerated breathing. And dizziness...Fuck!

Mina was going into shock. Shit! Fuck! Not good!

"Lay her down immediately and lift her feet about twelve inches high!" Sakura instructed urgently. The two did so as Itachi swiveled to face Sasuke, gently but urgently placing Mina's head in Sasuke's lap while Itachi lifted her feet up and held them there. Her lower back was braced on Itachi's long legs, so it was almost like she was lying across another seat. It was pretty comfortable despite how it sounds.

"Keep her warm and remove any tight clothing!" Sakura instructed again.

Sasuke tugged on Mina's sweater, but found that it wasn't that tight and that it would help to keep her warm. He carefully shimmied out of his trench coat and draped it over her trembling form.

"She's going into shock, so don't move her around much and just make sure you guys keep her warm." Sakura said. Mina faintly noticed that the urgency in her voice seemed to be gone now.

Sasuke said something to Sakura, but Mina was already half asleep. Man, she was so tired. Sasuke's lap was actually very comfortable.

The last thing that went through her head was a single thought...

_He still smells good...Mmmmmm_

* * *

**A/N: Wow! Over 3,000 words! :]**

**I hope you are all still enjoying this story. I'm sure having a lot of fun writing it.**

**So, I haven't received very many reviews. Thank you again to those of you that have reviewed. And I would also like to thank those of you who have favorited and followed my story. That makes me very happy :]. And a happy me, is a getting-chapters-out-more-often me. Just an FYI. Hahahahaha.**

**Anywho...so that was chapter four! Please let me know what you all thought about it!**

**Until next chapter!**

**Au revoir! :D**

**~XAngelicWallflowerX**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry that this is so late. I'm not even going to try to make excuses for myself. Just know that a lot has been going on in my life lately and that I'm going to TRY to upload more often.**

**Also, I just realized that I didn't translate a word for everyone at the end of last chapter and I'm sorry. For those of you who didn't Google translate it already, '****_Koibito_****' means sweetheart. It primarily means lover, but I'm using it as meaning sweetheart since Itachi and Mina aren't lovers.**

**Anyways, on to chapter five!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, just Mina and the plot.**

**Please review and rate! Thanks!**

**And as always, ENJOY!**

* * *

Naruto sat in the Konoha hospital's lobby, impatiently drumming his fingers on the arm rest of his chair. Kiba had driven them here as fast as he could after Sakura had said that Mina was going into shock. Itachi had then explained that Mina had been shot and that the bullet was still lodged in her leg, which was now ultimately causing all of this.

Needless to say, Naruto was furious.

_That motherfucker...I'll kill him!_

"Naruto," Someone placed a hand on top of his drumming fingers. He looked up to see Shikamaru standing there with a severely annoyed expression. "Chill out, man. She'll be fine. You're giving me a headache."

Shikamaru removed his hand after Naruto nodded, smiling apologetically. But, he couldn't stop worrying about her no matter how hard he tried. She's been in surgery for almost two hours now. Sighing impatiently, he looked at the surrounding faces of his friends.

Sakura was perched on Itachi's lap directly across from him, running her hands through his long hair affectionately as the two talked quietly. Neji and Sai sat next to the couple; both were occupying themselves with a magazine and some kind of book. Naruto could only guess what the title could be of the book. He really didn't want to know though, with it being Sai and all.

Next to them sat Kiba, who was talking quietly on his cell phone. Shikamaru had moved back to his seat to the left of Naruto, staring at his girlfriend who was currently talking to some nurses passing by. Ino had shown up about an hour ago, saying how glad she was the Mina was found and also how angry she was that she ended up getting hurt. Since Ino and Sakura both work here part time, one a triage nurse and the other a critical care unit nurse, it really wasn't surprising to see Ino conversing with some of the other nurses. Sakura must've called the blonde when they got here, which also wasn't surprising. The two are best friends after all.

Mina and Ino on the other hand weren't **best** friends, but they tolerated each other. None the less, Ino still considered Mina a good friend, despite their major differences. She showed great concern and a desire to help anyway she could when she was abducted. To be honest, if it weren't for her dad, Police Chief Inoichi Yamanaka, they would've never found Mina in the first place. He was the one who put Detective Kakashi Hatake on the task of locating Mina. Naruto would be forever in their debt.

Stretching his arms above his head, Naruto looked to his right and his gaze landed on Sasuke. The guy was leaning against the wall by the automatic doors, just glowering at his feet. Naruto knew that Sasuke was still pissed about Mina being shot. Hell, he was still seething about it himself.

Sasuke is hard to read for most people, but he and Naruto have been best friends for years. By now, Naruto knows when his friend is upset...and a lot of times he also knows the reason why.

Yawning, Naruto stood and made his way over to his friend.

"What do you want, _dobe_?" Sasuke asked unhappily before Naruto even got to him, still glowering at his feet. Same old Sasuke. Grumpy as ever.

Naruto leaned against the wall next to him, casually crossing his feet at the ankles. "Why don't you come and sit with us? You've been standing over here alone since we got here."

Sasuke scoffed. "I'd rather stand."

Naruto sighed. "Standing here won't make her recover faster," He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Come sit with us. You've got to be tired."

Sasuke shrugged his hand off almost as fast as Naruto placed it there. "Don't touch. I said that I'd rather stand."

The tone of Sasuke's voice told Naruto that he wasn't going to sway him. Sighing once more, Naruto pushed off the wall with a frown. He looked back toward the group and noticed Hinata was coming toward him, finally returning from the restroom. "Fine, _teme_. You can't say I didn't offer, though."

Naruto met Hinata about half way with a small smile, wrapping his arm around her lovingly and pulling her into his body. Just as he was about to sit back down, a nurse walked out of the double doors next to Sasuke.

Her eyes landed on the group, who were the only ones in the lobby now. "I'm assuming you're all here for Ms. Mina Hazekura?"

Everyone who was seated stood up at the same time that Sasuke briskly walked over to join them.

"Yes we are," Sakura said, clutching Itachi's hand in her own. "How is she, Akane?"

"She has successfully made it out of surgery. She is very lucky. The bullet missed her sciatic nerve and did very little damage to her muscles. She should be healed within a month." Her eyes danced from face to face. "She is now resting in her room soundly and is asking to see you all. I'm afraid that only a couple of you can go back at a time though. Her room is too small for all of you to fit."

Sakura nodded and glanced around to everyone. "So, who wants to go in first?"

Naruto and Hinata stepped forward. "We will."

Nurse Akane smiled. "Right this way. I will take you to her room."

* * *

As the two disappeared behind the automatic doors, the rest of the group resumed their places. Sasuke against the wall and the others seated in the lobby chairs, chatting amongst themselves once more.

Sasuke appreciated Naruto's offer to join him and the others-deep down-, but he was too restless to sit. Hospitals always had that impact on him...ever since his mom died eight years ago from Leukemia. She had never shown signs of the illness until the day prior, which both confused and killed him inside. He has come to terms with it now, but has yet to get rid of the restlessness when near a hospital. He couldn't understand how Sakura worked here.

_Maybe that's why her and I never worked out._..._Maybe I was still angry that the hospital had done nothing, when in reality they did all they could do for mom._

His gaze landed on Sakura and his brother seated across the room. Much to his dismay, he could feel his expression soften as he looked at them. Sakura was sitting in Itachi's lap, nonchalantly playing with some strands of his long black hair. Itachi was rubbing circles into her thigh as he listened to whatever it was Kiba was telling him. At that moment, Sasuke felt envy and a little jealousy toward his brother. Things were rocky to begin with between Sakura and himself after the break-up, but it only got worse when she started seeing his brother.

He'll never forget how angry and upset he was that first night she came over to see Itachi.

(_Flashback_)

**_He sat in his room of the apartment he and Itachi shared just listening to music as he tried to unwind from a long day of work. Itachi was currently in the shower blaring some oldies. Sasuke didn't really mind considering he could only hear Itachi's music when his own songs switched. He was more of a Rock/Alternative/Metal kind of guy versus his Pop/Hip-Hop loving brother. Anything was better than Country though, so he couldn't complain too much about his brother's musical choices._**

**_Padding out to the kitchen in a pair of hip hugging jeans and a pair of black socks, Sasuke grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it full of water. He was just taking a sip and turning to go back to his room when the buzzer, which was their crappy doorbell, went off._**

**_'_****_Who could that be?' He thought as he sat down his glass on the island and went to the door. As he reached for the handle the thought of grabbing a shirt crossed his mind, but by then he was already turning the handle and opening the door to see who it was._**

**_His breathing stopped momentarily as he took in the pink haired woman standing on the stoop in a pair of white shorts, a pink and white striped top and white K-Swiss shoes. Her purse was thrown over her right shoulder, with her right hand holding the strap as if someone would dare to take it off her shoulder, and her hair was a little windblown, but it was still flawless like always. _**

**_She peered at him timidly, fidgeting with the hem of said pink and white shirt. "I-um….I'm here to see Itachi."_**

**_She refused to look at him as she said Itachi's name and he felt his blood boil. 'Can't have me, so you settle for my brother, huh?'_**

**_His fists clenched by his sides as he gritted his teeth from saying that exact thought out loud. Time flew by as he stood there, half glaring at the girl who he was in a committed relationship with for 8 months._**

**_"_****_Sakura?" Ahhh so Itachi finally decided to get his prissy ass out of the shower. Sasuke side stepped, finally allowing Sakura entrance._**

**_They greeted each other with a hug, which made his stomach churn. He swiftly shut the door and walked briskly back to his water glass and down the hall._**

**_"_****_Sasuke, wait." He walked faster, not wanting to talk to his brother in fear of blurting something out he shouldn't. "Sasuke!"_**

**_He slammed his bedroom door shut in Itachi's face, turning the lock quickly. Sasuke didn't hear his brother walk away due to Seether's 'Fake It' blaring through his iHome speakers, but he did hear the faint creek of the one floor board in the living room that resulted from weight being placed on the couch._**

**_Throwing himself on his bed, he listened to the lyrics of one of his favorite songs and tried not to think about the pink haired beauty and his brother snuggling up down the hall. Yeah, he and Sakura aren't together anymore but he still thought she was beautiful. And yeah, they aren't together BECAUSE of him, but that didn't mean he still wasn't hurt that she had already moved on._**

**_Hours passed without him realizing it. His music still boomed from the speaker, a Three Days Grace song this time, when he heard faint knocking at his door. Turning down the music, he went to the door and opened it._**

**_He knew it was Itachi before he even opened the door. _**

**_"_****_Sasuke," His brother said. "You got a minute?"_**

**_"_****_Oh, you want a minute of MY time, Itachi?" He asked nastily. He didn't mean to be so cruel, but he was hurting and was angry that his brother could do this to him so soon. "You seemed perfectly content sitting on the couch doing whatever it was you were doing with Sakura. My EX."_**

**_Itachi's eyebrows pulled together. "I tried to talk to you, but you just stormed in here like a 3 year old."_**

**_"_****_HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME ITACHI?!" He was yelling now. Not a good thing. The notorious emotionless bastard was showing some severe emotion. "We broke up a MONTH AGO FOR PETE'S SAKE! HOW COULD YOU ALREADY BE SEEING HER?!"_**

**_"_****_Sasuke-"_**

**_"_****_Save it." Sasuke interrupted, seething. After taking a few calming breaths as he combed his fingers through his long hair, he spoke again. Calmer this time. _**

**_"_****_Since I highly doubt you'll put my feelings first," Itachi tried to say something, but Sasuke just pushed onward stubbornly. "I'll be out by next month. Sakura can turn this room into a medical study."_**

**_Her name had been sneered out as he brushed passed his brother. Itachi followed him out to the door and tried to explain things as Sasuke hastily pulled on his coat, a stocking cap, and his combat boots._**

**_Sasuke grabbed his set of keys from a hook next to the door, still not acknowledging Itachi or his words, and raced out the door._**

**_It would be 2 weeks before either brother seen or spoke to each other._**

_(End Flashback)_

Sasuke still felt horrible for not listening to what Itachi had tried to tell him. There was no changing how it went down now though, so it was time to get over it.

That is an easier thing said than it is done.

* * *

It's been close to three weeks since Mina was in the hospital. Her leg still throbbed a little when she was on her feet too long, but other than that she doesn't have any lingering problems.

"MIIIIINNNNAAAAA!"

At least not with her leg.

She sighed; coming through the threshold to her room where Naruto sat sprawled out on her queen sized bed. "What Naruto. I'm right here. I can hear you just fine."

He chuckled nervously as he sat up rubbing the back of his neck. "Hehehe sorry Mina. I thought you were still in the kitchen. I was going to ask if you wanted to go to Sasuke's with me."

"What about Hinata?"

"She's at work until 7 and I'm bored. Sasuke has a PS4 and Call of Duty." She rolled her eyes.

_Gee thanks Naruto. Didn't know I was so boring._

"All right. Let's go." Naruto leaped off her bed and practically dragged her out the door before the last word fully left her mouth.

"How's your leg been lately?" He asked, trying to make small talk as they walked the 3 blocks to Sasuke's.

"It's been pretty good. Only really bothers me when I'm on my feet too long. Other than that, no issues."

He peered at her quizzically, which caused her to quirk an eye brow at him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"The scar doesn't bother you?" She shook her head.

"How come? I remember Ino had a cow when she got breast implants a couple years ago because she was afraid there would be scars afterward."

"Well for one," She started. "I'm not Ino. And for two, it's not like I'm going to be running for Konoha's Next Top Model. A small scar doesn't bother me any. I actually have quite a few already from my childhood."

"Oh," He said. "That makes sense then I guess." This in Naruto terms meant he still didn't understand, but he was going to agree with you anyway.

A couple minutes passed and then they were standing on Sasuke's stoop. Naruto knocked on the big wooden door of his friend's apartment and then he rang the doorbell after a couple seconds. He kept doing it over and over. All that was missing was him repeatedly saying 'Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke.' as he knocked and rang the doorbell.

He went to ring the doorbell again, but Mina stopped him. "Jeez Naruto. Give the guy a chance to answer the door."

The words hadn't even left her mouth completely before the door was thrown open and a seething Sasuke stood in the doorway. A shirtless, seething, hair-dripping-fresh-out-of-the-shower Sasuke. Mina averted her gaze quickly to hide the blush staining her cheeks.

"**_Dobe,_**" Sasuke seethed in his low baritone voice. His voice seemed to vibrate through Mina, making her heart beat faster. "I swear to God, I'm going to kill you one of these days. What the fuck do you want?"

"Mina and I are boooorrreeeddddd." Sasuke just gave him a look. "Can we hang here and play PS4? Pleasssseeeee?"

"Hn. Where's your girlfriend?"

"She's at work until 7." Naruto said sadly. Was he trying to get sympathy from Sasuke? Psh. That was highly unlikely.

Sasuke sighed heavily after a few moments. "Fine, _dobe_. You better not make a mess in my house though. I will kill you."

Naruto shouted with glee before dragging Mina inside behind himself and Sasuke. Mina did her best to concentrate on the floor, not wanting to get caught staring at Sasuke's sculpted form.

"OY MINA!" Naruto's booming voice caused her to jump. It was then that she realized that she was standing by the door all by herself.

_Oh great, I probably look like an idiot_.

She hurriedly took off her shoes and jacket, mentally yelling at herself for spacing out. After hanging her jacket on Sasuke's haul tree, she padded into the living room where the boys were sitting on the couch, PS4 remotes in hand. They turned to look at her as she came in the room, causing her to blush.

"Sorry guys. Got lost in my own thoughts." She walked over to the couch briskly and took a seat next to Naruto, who was seated next to Sasuke on the middle cushion. Folding her legs underneath her, Mina got comfortable and found herself entranced by the game the boys were playing. She couldn't believe how good they were. She'd played before, but wouldn't deem herself to be as good as Naruto and Sasuke. They sure made a damn good team.

Time seemed to fly by as she sat there watching and laughing at them as they yelled at the each other and the other players. Instead of playing again when they both died, and both would argue it's because of a dumbass 13 year old, shit talking kid with nothing better to do, Naruto sat his controller down and stretched his arms above his head.

"It's 6:20 already?!" Naruto exclaimed, looking at the clock that hung over the TV. "I gotta go get Hinata!"

He hurriedly hopped off the couch and ran to the door, pulling on his tennis shoes and coat hastily. Mina was just tying her shoes when Naruto bolted out the door, leaving her there to stare after him in bewilderment.

* * *

**A/N: So that's Chapter Five. Finally. Haha. Sorry again that it took so very long for me to update. Lots of hectic stuff going on.**

**Anyways.**

**For those who caught it, I did referenced some Big Bang Theory in there. Sheldon kills me lol**

**Rate and Review review review please and thanks! I love hearing what you have to say!**

**Au Revoir!**

**XAngelicWallflowerX**


	6. Chapter 6

****A/N: First off, I would like to apologize for my long absence and negligence of this story. I could come up with a million excuses as to why, but I won't. I'll just say this: I am back (for now) and will try very, very, VERY hard to keep writing new chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the Naruto characters, just Mina and the plot**

**Please enjoy and don't forget to shot me a review afterwards!**

* * *

She couldn't believe what just happened. Naruto just walked out without her! Yeah, their apartment building was only a few blocks away, but after being abducted a year ago she was still afraid to walk outside by herself. What if Kye came back for her? What if he killed her this time? She shuttered at her thoughts and had to refrain from curling into herself for comfort. She didn't want to go back to that life.

"What an idiot," Sasuke grumbled from her right. She still stood by the front door wearing her shoes and she almost felt like an idiot herself. Should she suck it up and walk the few blocks home, or should she see if Sasuke minded if she stayed here a while longer? Well, she was too scared to do the first option. So, that left the second.

"I can't believe he just left me like that." She said, still bewildered.

"You can stay here for a while longer if you'd like," Sasuke offered, not looking at her. She found it funny how she was just about to ask when he offered.

"Or," He continued. "I could walk you home. It's your choice."

She smiled a small smile at his generosity. "I would like to stay here actually. Are you sure you don't mind?"

He just shook his head, turning on his heels and walked back to his couch. After she took her shoes back off, she followed him and took a seat to his right. He had picked up one of the PS4 remotes and was holding the other out to her.

"Do you want to play?"

She arched a brow at him. "You want _me _to play Call of Duty?" When he just looked at her, she continued. "I'm not half as good as Naruto. I would probably just die every five seconds."

"That doesn't answer the question."

She sighed. "I can get pretty hostile when playing, but if you're okay with that, than fine. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

That made him arch a brow at her. "Hostile, huh?"

"Yeah. Like yell at the TV on the verge of throwing something hostile." He nodded in understanding, placing the outstretched controller on the couch beside him.

"Well is there something you would like to do then?" Sasuke was offering to spend more time with someone? Usually he was trying to rush them out the door. That's a first.

"Uhhhhh—well not anything specific really," She paused, trying to come up with something. "I guess we could watch a movie or something…if you don't mind."

"What kind of movie?"

She thought for a few seconds before answering. "It really doesn't matter to me. Does Netflix have anything good?"

He shrugged as he closed out of the game and opened the Netflix app. "We will have to see."

* * *

About an hour and a half later, Mina and Sasuke were sitting on his couch watching The Wolf of Wall Street. It was dark outside by now, a soft breeze blowing through the window Sasuke opened before starting the movie. It was the perfect setting to be watching a movie. It felt more theatrical this way, just minus the popcorn. She wasn't a big fan of the stuff and Sasuke didn't ask anyway.

So far, the movie was good. Mina was a little surprised at how raunchy it was though. It was borderline too much, but the funny parts made it bearable. She swore she could even hear Sasuke chuckle a few times next to her during the funny scenes. It was a shock, and also a very _nice_ thing to hear. It had been a while since she heard him laugh. But, she couldn't figure out for the life of her why his throaty chuckling made her blush. Hesitantly, she sneaked a glance in his direction. It'd be so embarrassing if she got caught staring, but she found that she couldn't help herself.

Luckily for her, he was more focused on the movie then on her at the moment. It gave her the opportunity to really appreciate how good looking he was. The more she looked at him, the faster her heart beat behind her ribs. With his endless onyx eyes, his strong jaw line, the black hair that framed his handsome face, and his broad, muscular shoulders, it was like he was so perfect it was almost like he was made of plastic.

Mina scoffed to herself. What a ludicrous thought. There had to be a better description for him than that. Sasuke was the farthest thing from plastic. And he sure as hell wasn't fake. There wasn't a single person alive who was perfect, but she just couldn't find the right word to describe him. She did agree that to say he was as 'perfect as plastic' was an insult to him and didn't do him justice.

After a moment more, she started inwardly shaking her head at herself.

_How pathetic. I'm practically sitting over here salivating over him and his muscular, toned body._

Suddenly realization hit and Mina's blush deepened as she quickly looked away from him.

_He still __hasn't __put a shirt on._

How she didn't realize that sooner, baffled her. Now that she _had_ realized it though, she couldn't get the redness to leave her cheeks.

Hopefully Sasuke didn't notice.

* * *

The movie was about half way over when Sasuke's doorbell rang and a knock sounded at his door. Sighing, he paused the movie and went to see who it was. Mina took this time to stretch her arms and legs. She'd been sitting there—awfully close to Sasuke she now realized with a blush—for over two hours. Her ankles popped rather loudly when she stood, but boy did it feel good. Just as she was leaning over to stretch out her back, Sasuke came back into the room with Hinata and Naruto close behind him. Mina had to resist the urge to glare at her blond best friend.

_You jackass, you left me._

Instead of saying something to the idiot, Mina plopped back down in her seat and waited for Sasuke to resume the movie.

Hinata sat down next to her after about a minute and smiled at her. "Hey Mina."

She smiled sweetly back at the girl. She had no hard feelings toward her, so there was no need to be nasty. "Hello Hinata. How was work?"

The long haired girl sighed and leaned her head against the back of the couch. "It was work. We were so slow today that I finished that whole book you let me borrow a couple days ago."

Ah yes. The infamous book—well series actually— that was getting so many mixed reviews. Some found it to be really good, while others found it to be repulsive and abusive. To her, Fifty Shades of Grey was a great read. It got her adrenaline going, and not only did it have an…_interesting _plot with lots of _interesting_ situations, but it also gave the readers an insight into what a relationship such as Ana and Christian's could be like. She wasn't necessarily lining up to be the next contestant in a relationship like that, but that didn't mean that she didn't sometimes wonder what it would be like.

"It was good, wasn't it?" Mina wiggled her eyebrows at Hinata suggestively, making the girl blush slightly and fidget with her thumbs as she nodded. "I told you it was. If you would like the next book in the series, you are more than welcome to borrow it."

"Okay, thank you." Hinata responded, still blushing and fidgeting as she looked off to the side, not looking at anything in particular. Suddenly the girl met Mina's eyes and stopped her fidgeting. "So, how was your day today?"

Mina shrugged. "It was pretty good. Aside from the part where your boyfriend ditched me."

She had said the last sentence slightly louder on purpose so Naruto could hear her.

The jerk himself then kneeled down in front of her at the same time Sasuke sat back down on the couch. "I'm sorry, Mina. I was so excited to see Hinata that I wasn't thinking straight."

_Uh-huh, sure._

When she didn't respond to him out loud, he placed a warm hand on her leg. "Since we have no idea what happened to that bastard who kidnapped you, I'm glad you stayed here. I don't know if I would've been able to handle losing you a second time."

That last sentence almost broke her. She looked her friend in the eyes, his blue orbs full of sadness and pain. She placed her hand over his and gave a reassuring squeeze.

"Naruto," She squeezed his hand tighter as she gazed at him, hoping he would heed her words. "It wasn't your fault. Please, stop blaming yourself."

"I could say that if it's anyone's fault that it'd be mine, but I'm not going to say that either because that's not true. It's Kye's fault for being so fucked up. Blame him. Not yourself. I hate seeing you beat yourself up over it. We can't change what happened. Let's just focus on now."

By now, Mina was starting to tear up and she fought desperately to stop the tears from cascading down her cheeks. She was having such a wonderful night—aside from being ditched obviously—, but she wasn't really mad about that anymore. She never actually was to begin with. After all, it gave her and Sasuke some time to get reacquainted with each other again. She just didn't want this kind of talk to ruin the rest of it.

Naruto nodded at her words, but she wasn't sure if he was really going to stop beating himself up over her abduction. He probably wouldn't. At least, not right away.

He stood then, outstretching his hand to his girlfriend with love and a hint of lust in his eyes. "Well, Hinata and I are going to go home and eat some dinner. I'll see you later Mina…**teme**."

**_Eating dinner __isn't __all that they'll be doing. Naruto will probably even say that __she's_ _what's for desert…_**

Mina shook her head to get rid of those thoughts, very uncomfortable with the sudden images that popped into her head of her best friend and his girlfriend having coitus.

God! Now she sounded like Sai!

Naruto half glared at Sasuke, but he just scoffed back at the blond as the couple walked out of his apartment, leaving Mina behind. She didn't mind this time though. They had a movie to finish watching.

Mina shivered then, a cool breeze skating over her skin from the open window to her right. The temperature must've dropped outside.

"You cold?" Sasuke asked.

She nodded as she rubbed her arms in a futile attempt to warm them. He swiftly got up and disappeared down the hall. About a minute later he emerged with a black and white fleece blanket.

After he sat back down—again—he opened the blanket and looked to her expectantly. Slowly, she scooted closer to him, to the point where she could just about feel his body heat, and snuggled into the blanket. It was so warm. As she pulled it up to cover her arms, she discretely sniffed the material.

_Mmmmmmmmm. It smells like him. I wonder if he sleeps with this..._

The thought made her face heat up—for the thousandth time that day—and she silently thanked god or whoever that it was dark. At least Sasuke wouldn't be able to see it now.

* * *

****A/N: All right, so there's chapter six. I'm not exactly thrilled with how this chapter turned out, so I may come back in and change a little or even add a little more later on down the road. Who knows. This one just feels like it bounces around a lot, but that may just be me. I will have better chapters in the future, I promise. **

**I would like to take this time now to thank those of you that have reviewed, followed and favorited this story. I smile every time I get a notification about a new follower, review, or someone who has favorited my story. It makes my day, it truly does.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter and I look forward to reading your thoughts.**

**Until next time!**

**Au revoir!**

**~XAngelicWallflowerX**


	7. Chapter 7

****A/N: I am very pleased with how much traffic this story is getting. Although, I wish more of you readers would review, but beggars can't be choosers. **

**Anyway, here is chapter seven. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto characters, just Mina and the plot**

**On to the chapter! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Ba-DUM**_

Mina's nose twitched slightly as the sound hit her ears.

**_Ba-DUM_**

She inwardly frowned at the persistent noise, wishing it would stop so she could go back to her lovely dream.

**_Ba-DUM_**

Groaning inwardly, she fluttered her eyes open slowly and tensed as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings through her cloudy, sleep hazed vision. This wasn't her room.

**_Ba-DUM_**

There was that damn noise again! Mina blinked a few times, bringing her surroundings into sharper focus. She relaxed instantly. She was still at Sasuke's on his couch, laying on her side with the back of the couch behind her.

**_Ba-DUM_**

Frowning at the noise once more, she looked down her body. She blushed as she remembered scooting across the couch to snuggle under Sasuke's fleece to get warm that night. The said fleece was still draped around her now laying down form. Inhaling slightly, she closed her eyes as a smell that could only be described as Sasuke hit her nose.

_It should be a crime to smell that good._

**_Ba-DUM_**

Mina tilted her head to the side in confusion as she noticed that the blanket was lumpy. It almost looked like legs were stretched out next to her. Her gazed followed the 'legs' upward until she came face to face with a sleeping Sasuke, their faces only inches apart. Shocked, a fierce blush stained her cheeks as she stared at him. How had she not noticed his strong chest underneath her head? His arm was wrapped around her for Pete's Sake! She should've felt that he was touching her at least.

_What is going on with me lately?_

Inwardly groaning again, she laid her forehead against Sasuke pectoral. She really had to pee, but was too afraid to move. She didn't want to wake him up because that would be really embarrassing. And she was already embarrassed at the fact that she slept on his chest all night, and—her bladder felt like it was going to burst just then—Okay, she's going to have to suck it up because she REALLY needed to use the bathroom.

With determination flowing through her veins, she carefully took Sasuke's arm off of her and set it down behind her. Gently raising up on her elbow, she slowly swung her leg over both of his so that she was now straddling him. Blushing slightly at the position, she went to rise off him when two hands closed around her waist.

Her eyes shot to Sasuke's face, to see that he was looking at her with a small smirk tugging at his lips.

"Well, good morning." He drawled, voice husky from sleep and sexy as fuck. Mina blushed harder, wanting to scurry away, but couldn't because of two reasons: Sasuke's hands and because she was froze in place.

"Morning…" She replied meekly after a few tense minutes, looking anywhere but at his sexy tousled hair, blazing obsidian eyes and panty-wetting smirk.

_It should also be a crime to look that good in the morning._

A finger under her chin brought her to meet his gaze. The air suddenly charged around them as brown orbs collided with molten obsidian ones. He searched her face, for what she wasn't sure. His eyes took her in, first starting at her eyes and traveling down to her nose. And then to her lips, where they lingered before they flickered back up to her eyes.

She swallowed, heart racing a thousand miles a minute. _Is he asking for permission?!_

Her face had to be as red as a tomato as she scurried off of him and practically ran down the hallway to the bathroom, not giving him a chance to do anything further and leaving him to stare after her in amusement.

* * *

Chuckling to himself, Sasuke sat up on the couch as Mina closed herself in the bathroom. She was such an interesting girl. She was practically begging him to kiss her just a minute ago, but before he could even think about it, she bolted. And the way he woke up this morning…_Jesus._

He didn't know whether to call him waking up at that exact moment luck. Just thinking about the suggestive position the two were in this morning made his dick harden further. Yeah, it was definitely not luck. Now he had to hide a raging boner.

A knock suddenly sounded at the front door and Sasuke sighed, already knowing—and dreading— who it was. The dobe was probably worried because Mina didn't come home last night.

Another knock rang through the apartment as Sasuke shoved his boner under the waistband of his sweats and rose, throwing the fleece to the side.

He walked to the front door briskly, peeking through the peep hole to confirm his suspicions.

He unlocked the door and opened the door to the idiot….and Hinata. "Hinata. Dobe."

"Teme," Naruto said distractedly in greeting as he tried to look into Sasuke's apartment over his shoulder. "Did Mina crash here last night? She wasn't in her room this morning and I'm worried about her."

Sasuke moved to the side, permitting the couple entrance. "Yeah, dobe. She's in the bathroom right now."

Sighing in relief, Naruto and Hinata walked through the threshold. The trio were just moving towards the couch when Mina emerged.

Naruto quickly pulled the girl into a bear hug, catching her off guard. "Naruto—"

"I'm glad you're okay. I was worried about you when you weren't in your room this morning."

Her expression softened. If he wasn't mistaken, it almost looked pained. "I'm sorry I didn't let you know, Naruto. I guess I was more tired than I thought. I ended up falling asleep like twenty minutes after you and Hinata left last night."

Naruto pulled away from her and smiled at her. "It's okay. I'm—I mean we're—just glad that you're okay."

Tired of watching the two, Sasuke walked off to his room to change into some clean clothes. He had a few errands to run before work tonight.

* * *

Mina watched Sasuke disappear down the hall out of the corner of her eye. If she was honest, she was glad that Naruto and Hinata were here when she came out of the bathroom. She didn't want to imagine how awkward it would've been between her and Sasuke if they hadn't been. She sighed to herself. It was still going to be awkward between them now for a little bit.

"Are you hungry Mina?" Asked Hinata, placing her hand on Mina's shoulder tenderly.

As if on cue, Mina's stomach rumbled. She giggled. "Yes actually."

"Let's go get some breakfast then!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing Mina's hand and dragging her toward the door, only pausing long enough to let her put on her shoes. He yelled a goodbye to Sasuke—who just grunted in response—and then the three of them were walking down the block.

The trio decided on a small local restaurant not far from their apartment complex. The restaurant, known as Debbie's Diner, had mouth-wateringly good French toast. Mina always ordered the French toast with maple syrup, one egg, crispy bacon and sourdough bread lightly toasted. She has been wanting to try something else, but every time she gets here and smells the other people eating the French toast breakfast she just has to get it too. It's her favorite.

"Hello," Greeted a cheeky young girl. "Welcome to Debbie's Diner. My name is Sofia and I will be taking care of you folks today. Can I start you all off with some beverages?"

"A water, please." Said Hinata.

"Orange juice for me!" Replied Naruto, beaming at her.

Sofia turned to Mina now, a small smile plastered to her face. "A water too, please."

She scribbled down their drink orders onto her notepad and smiled up to them. "All right. Unless you are ready to order too, I will go get those while you look over the menu."

"We're ready to order now."

"Wonderful! What can I get ya?"

"I'll take the French toast breakfast with maple syrup, one egg over easy, crispy bacon and sourdough bread lightly toasted."

Sofia scribbled down Mina's order. "All right. And for you sir?"

"I'll have the Meat Lovers Omelet with hash browns and white bread," Naruto said, as he reached over to shake the ketchup. "And some more ketchup too please."

Sofia nodded, writing down his order as well before turning to Hinata. "And for you?"

"I'll have the same thing as Mina, please. The French toast breakfast."

Nodding again, Sofia scribbled down the last order before taking their menus. "This should be out in about fifteen minutes. If there is anything else I can get you, don't hesitate to ask."

Mina took a drink of her water as the waitress walked away, folding her hands on the table afterward as she looked to the couple in front of her. The two were play fighting cutely. Mina smiled softly as she watched.

Hinata was drinking some of her water as she stared into Naruto eyes. The lavender eyed beauty smiled suddenly and pulled out her straw, tapping the end of Naruto's nose with it. She giggled softly at his expression and then she giggled a little louder as he got closer to her face and rubbed his wet nose on her cheek, also giving that said cheek a swift lick with his tongue.

Mina found herself chuckling softly at their cuteness until her heart panged with envy. She stared off into space as she wished she could have a relationship like that. All her relationships before her abduction were with a bunch of assholes who only wanted one thing—sex. And she was stupid enough to lose her virginity to the first guy she thought she loved. As soon as he finished—the prick didn't even bother getting her off too—he ditched her, leaving her there with a broken heart, never to see her or speak to her again. Not that Mina didn't try to talk to him. Her mind didn't want to accept what happened, so for the next month straight she texted him, called him and even went over to his house a couple times. He never texted back, answered the phone, or came to the door. After that month, she finally got the picture and decided that she would be more careful from then on.

"Mina," Naruto started, pulling her from her thoughts. "Your food has been sitting in front of you for five minutes now. Aren't you going to eat?"

Giving her head a slight shake she reached for her silverware. "Yeah, Naruto. Sorry about that. I got lost in my thoughts."

They were silent for the rest of their meal, not even glancing at one another. Or, at least Mina wasn't. She had gone and upset herself with her blast to the past.

_I refuse to get hurt and embarrassed like that again. I won't become that girl that no one recognized—myself included_—_again._

Her hand tightened around her silverware.

_Never again._

* * *

****A/N: So that was chapter seven. Not as long as I would've liked it to be, but I wanted to get another chapter out for you guys. I hope it turned out okay. **

**Also, was it just me, or did Sasuke seem to be a little out of character? Please let me know what you thought. I ****don't ****want him to be too out of character. I'm going to try to stick to his character as much as possible, but a little OOC-ness is fine. I just don't want there to be too much, you feel me?**

**Anyway...**

**Please review! I would realllllyyyy like to hear your feedback. Especially since I feel like I made Sasuke too OOC.**

**Until next chapter!**

**Au Revoir!**

**~XAngelicWallflowerX**


	8. Chapter 8

****A/N: Gosh my life has been so busy lately! I'm happy to upload another chapter for you all though. :]**

********_IMPORTANT(As of July 16_****_th_****_, 2015):_**** For those of you who are continued readers of this fanfic, you may have noticed that my OC's name has changed. I apologize for the sudden switch, but I recently stumbled across her new name and fell in love with it. I feel as if it fits her personality better and also I'm the author, so I get to do that! Lol****

**Anyway, on to the story!**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

After the trio finished eating, they paid the bill and began the walk to their apartment building. Hinata and Naruto chatted happily as they held hands, the joined limbs swinging back and forth freely between the couple. Mina trailed behind slightly, feeling the little green monster rear its ugly head again.

_Why can't I have something like that? Is there something wrong with me? Or is it just luck that the only kind of guys I attract are fuck-boys?_

She frowned. It definitely wasn't a pleasant thought.

After a few minutes of more thoughts like those, she pushed her jealousy and envy aside as she picked up her pace to catch up to her friends. There was no point in dwelling on something she can't change. The couple continued chatting happily as she came up on the other side of Hinata. Naruto noticed her and flashed her a happy smile as he listened to Hinata tell him something that happened at work last week.

She smiled back, trying to get lost in their conversations as a means of getting her mind off her disturbing thoughts.

Approximately ten minutes later they reached their apartment building. Walking through the front doors, the manager, who's a heavy set man in his late forties named Hachi, greeted them with a kind smile and a wave.

They all waved back as they passed Hachi on their way to the elevator. After piling in, Naruto hit the button for the third floor and Mina found herself slightly surprised that they were the only ones on the elevator. On any other day, the elevator would've been so crammed that the three of them would be so close to each other that it looked like they were participating in a three-some in public. Thank god they were all such great friends, or that would be severely awkward.

The elevator dinged then, the metal doors sliding open as it stopped on their floor. The happy couple stepped out first, Mina not too far behind. As the doors closed behind her, she couldn't stop herself from peering down the hall in the opposite direction her friends were headed.

Toward her apartment that was at the end of the hall.

The apartment she's been too chicken to go back to in fear of Kye finding her again.

She frowned to herself again, upset over her behavior. She decided right then and there that she would go back to her apartment and get on with her life. She refused to let Kye win any longer.

"Mina?"

Her head snapped to her friends, who had stopped half way down the hall. Naruto approached her slowly, his eyes understanding and kind.

He placed a hand tenderly on her shoulder as he came to a stop beside her. "There's no rush, Mina. You can stay with us as long as you need."

She smiled. "I know Naruto. But, it's not fair to you and Hinata. And it also means that I'm letting Kye win. I'm letting him make me afraid to move on and I'll be damned if I give him anymore power over me then he already has."

Seeing her determination, Naruto pulled her into a tight embrace. "You're one of the strongest people I know. I envy that about you, Mina."

Mina hugged him tighter. "Thank you Naruto. For everything. And I really mean everything. But, I think it's time."

He pulled back and looked her in the eyes once more. She smiled again and looked behind him to Hinata as she mentally prepared to utter the next eleven words.

"Will you guys help me move back in to my apartment?"

Her black haired friend smiled tenderly at her as she walked over to join them. "Of course we will, Mina."

Naruto dug in his front pocket and produced the spare key to her apartment she had given him when they both moved in here, just in case of an emergency.

"Here," He placed it in her hand. "Neither one of us has been in there since you were in the hospital, but Hinata and I kept it clean while you were gone."

"Thank you," She pulled both of them into a hug, overcome with sudden emotion. "Both of you."

She pulled away after a minute, and with butterflies in her stomach, she walked toward her apartment. She smirked to herself as a sudden thought struck her.

_I wonder how many missed calls I have._

Her smirk fell from her lips just as fast as it appeared. Her cellphone was in her purse at the time of her abduction. She had been so startled when Kye grabbed her that she dropped her purse. For all she knew, someone could've picked it up and walked off with it.

_Just great. There went my car keys and my wallet too._

Reaching her door, she hesitated. She was nervous still, she couldn't deny that. All she could think about was that somehow Kye had gotten a hold of her stuff and now knew where she lived. It was enough to make her heart beat quicken and for her hands to tremble.

**_Oh, would you stop?! You can do this Mina! Stop letting him win!_**

That little voice in her head was right. Nodding to herself, she stood up straighter and unlocked her door.

_Here's to the start of new beginnings._

* * *

It was around 11 o clock at night as Mina sat in the living room of her freshly clean apartment, clad in her pajamas with a glass of Captain and Pepsi in her hand and her beloved friends seated next to her. Naruto was enjoying shots of Jim Bean Honey while Hinata was sipping on the remainder of her Corona beer. They had finished cleaning and moving her back into her single bedroom apartment about 20 minutes ago and had decided to have a little celebration.

"'Ay Meeenahhh," Naruto drawled, obviously having had a little too much to drink. "I think Hina and I are gonna go hooommmeee."

The said girl nodded her agreement, setting her now empty beer bottle on Mina's coffee table. She got to her feet, stumbling slightly. Mina set her empty glass down on the coffee table as well, clambering to her feet a little steadier than her friend.

"All right. I'll walk you guys to the door."

Naruto about fell on his face twice in his attempt to get to her door and Mina couldn't stop her laughter.

"Heyyyyy!" He exclaimed childishly, which only made her laugh more. "Stop laughing at me Meeenaaahhhh."

Clearing her throat several times, she tried to stifle her laughter out of generosity. "I'm sorry Naruto."

He grunted as he clumsily grabbed the door knob and jiggled it a few times, muttering something incoherent before realizing that he had to twist and pull the door toward him in order to open it. She looked down for a split second before his surprised exclamation snapped her head back up.

"OWAHHH!" He exclaimed, flailing his arms about as he tripped over her threshold—on what, God only knows—and fell face first into the hallway, his butt sticking straight up in the air, with an _OMPFH_.

After a silent minute passed, Mina absolutely lost it. Rolling on the floor, gasping for air as she laughed hysterically type of lost it. Quite literally too.

She watched through the tears caused by her laughter as her blonde friend pushed himself into a kneeling position in front of her door and sent her a pouty face as he crossed his arms over his chest childishly.

"Whadd'er you two laughin' at?" He slurred to her and Hinata, who was cackling hysterically next to her, as he glared down the hall with rosy cheeks. Mina briefly wondered whether it was the effects of the alcohol or due to embarrassment, but she was laughing too hard to give it much thought.

Several minutes passed before Mina could breathe normally. As she moved to help her friend to his feet, she had to suppress an onset of giggles. Giggling would lead to more hysterics and she was sure her friends wanted to get home. Her neighbors would probably appreciate the silence also.

"Thanks," he grumbled, wobbling slightly before his girlfriend wrapped an arm around his torso and started leading him toward their apartment. About half way down the hall he stumbled again, calling to her over his shoulder. "See ya tomorrah Meeennnnaaahhh."

She chuckled at the pair, lifting her hand in a wave even though her friends weren't looking at her to see, as she called back to them. "Bye guys."

As soon as they were in front of their door she stepped back through her threshold with a sigh. After closing the door and dead bolting it, she threw herself against the door. Her nerves had decided to pay her another visit, which she wasn't too thrilled about. The alcohol pumping through her veins helped her to push them away as she moved to tidy up her living room before heading to bed.

As she straightened the pads on her tan couch, she found her thoughts wondering to her purse. Said item was currently sitting on her bed, safe and sound. Mina had been relieved when she came across it while they were cleaning and taking care of her clothes. Naruto told her that he had swooped it up after Ky—_he—_grabbed her that day and brought it back here for her. She had briefly gone through her purse after hearing so, checking to make sure nothing had been damaged or not where she thought it had been. It wasn't that she didn't believe Naruto, she just needed reassurance. A small smile had graced her lips as she found that everything was to be accounted for.

Eyeing her purse as she entered her room, she grasped the strap in her hand as she sat on her bed next to it. She rummaged around in it for a minute before pulling out her cellphone, which was a simple iPhone 5 with a white life proof case. A frown contorted her features as her hand trembled slightly around the rectangular piece of technology. She was anxious to see how many texts and missed calls she had…but why?

A throbbing behind her right eye started suddenly and she groaned, palming the eye.

_All right, I can take a hint._

Heaving a sigh, she placed her purse by her night stand after plugging her phone in—deliberately averting her eyes in case by some miracle it still had battery left and lit up after being plugged in. As she pulled back the covers on her queen sized bed and huddled underneath the warm, familiar blanket, she decided that she would check her phone in the morning.

With a small yawn, she closed her eyes and snuggled her pillow, which smelled of her old self. Finding a bit of comfort in that, Mina began to drift off. A melancholy thought racing through her mind before total, blissful nothingness would engulf her.

_Tomorrow is going to be a long day for sure. I'll have to get reacquainted with working…that is, if I still have a job._

* * *

****A/N: Short chapter, I know. I apologize, but I wanted to get something out for you all since I've been gone for so long. I won't make any lame excuses for myself, but I just want you all (who care) to know that I haven't forgot or completely abandoned this story. And also that I will try very, very, very hard to keep more chapters coming!**

**Thank you to all those who have reviewed, story favorited and author favorited so far! It means a lot :D**

**Until next time!**

**~XAngelicWallflowerX**


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